


Home is Wherever I'm With You

by thegoodthebadandthenerdy



Category: El Internado | The Boarding School (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-16 22:34:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7287382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegoodthebadandthenerdy/pseuds/thegoodthebadandthenerdy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times Paula saw Marcos being friendly with Iván, and the one time she finally confronted him about it</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home is Wherever I'm With You

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the song "Home" by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes

1 – Monday Morning

Paula and Evelyn clicked their way down the hall, the short heels on their shoes pattering against the flooring. Their hands were clasped between them, swinging back and forth out of time, as they made their way to class. 

“-and my Mama said I could stay for the long weekend, because it would just be me and the nanny anyways.” Evelyn explained, her happiness wrinkled by the frown tugging at her lips.

Paula bounced giddily, a giggle escaping her. “C’mon,” she smiled, tugging on Evelyn’s hand. “Amelia said we’re gonna go to the lagoon today and I don’t wanna be late.”

They took off running, pulling on the others hand when they lagged behind. As they were getting ready to pass one of the less frequented, the deep bass of what teen boys considered to be whispers floated out into the main hallway.

Paula stopped abruptly, Evelyn barely keeping herself from slamming into her best friend. “We’re going to-“ Evelyn began.

Paula shushed her quietly, peeking her head around the corner. She pulled back quickly, flattening herself against the wall.  
“Who’d you see?” Evelyn hissed, her eyes wide.

“Marcos and Iván,”

Evelyn pursed her lips, her eyebrows drawing together in confusion. “What are they doing?” She asked, cocking her head to the side.

“I don’t know,” Paula shrugged, peeking back around the corner.  
Marcos was leaned against the doorframe, his arms tucked easily across his chest. His head was bent to the side, resting against Iván’s temple. They spoke in low voices, soft laughter emanating from one of them in response to something the other said; in return, their counterpart would grin at them when they weren’t looking.

“We need to get to class,” Marcos murmured, turning his head so his breath rustled through Iván’s sideburns.

“We’ve still got a few minutes,” Iván replied, resting his head on Marcos’ shoulder. He pressed a short kiss to the sensitive skin of the boy’s neck, before rolling his head to the side, so he could see freely.

Marcos laughed softly, but his eyes still darted around warily, looking for any passersby.

Iván lifted his head, leaving a tender kiss in Marcos’ brunet waves. “You can quit worrying, no one’s around,”

“Paula, we’re gonna be late.” Evelyn grumbled, tugging on her friend’s arm.

Reluctantly, Paula let herself be dragged to class.  
   
2 – Tuesday Afternoon

Paula trailed down the hallway, trailing her fingers over the wall idly. The route to Marcos’ room was one that had been ingrained in her mind, she could probably get there with her eyes closed if she tried hard enough.

She clicked around the corner, rushing forward to her brother’s door. She pressed her palm over the doorknob and quietly turned it, easing the door open. She opened her mouth to announce her presence, but stopped, and curiously watched the scene in front of her play out instead.

“What’d you get for number four?” Marcos mumbled, spinning a yellow pencil artfully between his fingers.

“Thirty-nine,” Iván replied, briefly looking up from the worksheet in front of him.

They lapsed back into silence, the only sound being the scratch of their respective pencils across their respective worksheets. Without thinking much of it, Marcos reached his hand out, waiting for the familiar pressure of Iván’s fingers tangling with his own.

With a quirk of his lips, Iván brushed his fingers against Marcos’, before neatly slotting them together; never once taking his eyes off of his paper.

Paula frowned, closing the door as quietly as possible as to not alert the two boys of her presence. She turned on her heel and set off down the hallway, going to find Evelyn and talk about the newest developments.  
   
3 – Wednesday Night

Paula tossed her covers back, tip-toeing quietly to the door. She slipped out unnoticed, and crept down the hallways that led to Marcos’ room. She pushed the door open as she rubbed at her eyes, and peeked around the door.

A smeared shadow was peeling the covers back, and lowering themselves into her brother’s bed. He barely flinched, seemingly used to the familiar dip in the bed. He tossed his arm around the person, hugging them loosely enough to give them breathing room, but tight enough to let them know he was there.

The mysterious figure carded their fingers tenderly through Marcos’ hair. 

“Go back to sleep,” the voice hummed, and it was only once they had spoken that Paula realized who it was.

She backtracked out of the room, her eyebrows furrowing together.  
   
4 – Thursday Afternoon

“What do you want to play today?” Evelyn asked, tottering her dolls around on the floor.

“Spies,” Paula exclaimed, giving a toothy grin.

“Spies?” Evelyn repeated with wide eyes.

“How do you play that?” She added, dropping her dolls in favor of looking at her friend.

“C’mon, I’ll show you.” Paula said, waving her friend over.

They stepped out from under the main staircase where they had been playing. Paula took Evelyn’s hand in her own and pulled her through the hallways. 

“Who are we gonna spy on?” Evelyn asked curiously, turning her head to the side like a confused baby bird.

“Marcos. I think he has a secret,” Paula explained.

“What kind of secret?”

Paula shrugged, tugging Evelyn around a corner and flattening herself against the nearest wall. “I’m not sure,”

They skipped past Jacinta, who smiled kindly at them before returning to her clip board and conversation with one of the cooking staff members. As they neared the boy’s dorm room, they slowed to a much quieter pace, dramatically edging along the wall.

The door was cracked, just enough that if standing at the right angle, one could see inside. Evelyn crouched down, and Paula stood over her, so their heads looked stacked. They blinked rapidly, vision adjusting the light transition from the darkened hallway to the bright dorm room.

Marcos was propped up in Iván’s bed, flipping idly through a textbook. “What are you doing?” he laughed as Iván flipped onto the bed beside him.

In response, the boy rested his ear just over Marcos’ heart, and exhaled deeply.

“You okay?” Marcos asked, swirling the hair at the nape of Iván’s neck.

“I’m tired, I hate lying to them, Marcos,”

“You know I hate lying to them too, Iván, but…” he trailed.

“I know, I know.” Iván breathed, the words falling over Marcos’ heart.

Evelyn looked up at Paula, who was already looking at her with wide eyes. 

“I think this is private,” Evelyn whispered.

Paula nodded grudgingly, concern for her brother flooding her ribcage. They pattered away, back to their hideaway under the stairs.  
   
5 – Friday Afternoon

Paula had decided that the best way to figure out her brother’s secret was to follow him. So far, she hadn’t been found out, but she had also just decided to follow him that morning, so she hadn’t really had time to get caught.

She was walking back to class from her bathroom break when she heard soft snuffling. Darting across the remainder of the hallway, she crouched down beside the staircase, and peered through the rails.

Iván pushed his fingers through his hair, mussing it up even further with each go round. He dropped himself in the middle of the staircase, and buried his face deep into his hands to hide the oncoming tears.

Paula was getting ready to announce her presence, her knees were already unbending, when approaching footsteps echoed around the entryway.

“Iván? Iván what happened? Who was on the phone?” Marcos called, taking the steps two at a time. He sat down, grabbing the spluttering boy by the face and brushing away the tears with the pad of his thumb.

“My father,” he croaked, staring blankly over Marcos’ shoulder.

“What did he say to you?” Marcos demanded.

“Nothing, nothing, I hung up before he could-“ he faltered.

Marcos turned Iván’s head so they looked eye to eye. “He can’t hurt you anymore,”

Iván gave a broken sob, burying his face in Marcos’ neck. Marcos’ arms instantly circled the other boy’s shoulders, hugging him tightly to his body.

“Shh, shh, shh. It’s okay, I promise, I promise you, he’ll never hurt you again.”

“Or what? He’ll have to go through you?” Iván snorted.

“I was thinking more along the lines of Carol…”

Iván laughed, it was wet with tears, but it was still there, gravelly and persistent.  
   
+1 – Saturday Morning  
“Marcos,” Paula said, pulling on her brother’s sleeve.

Marcos looked over at his sister, smiling when his eyes landed on her. “Hey,” he grinned. “What’s up?” he added, setting his fork down, and turning his chair to face her.

She had a troubled look on her face, nose scrunched up lips pulled downwards. Finally, after a long pause, she asked, “Is Iván your boyfriend?”

The boy in question, who had previously been leaning back in his tipped chair and sipping at his juice, crashed the front legs of his chair down, and hacked loudly around his swig of juice.

Vicky, eyes wide at Paula’s question, leaned over to beat her fist against his back until he gave her a thumbs up.

“Are you trying to beat me to death?” He asked, looking at her with a small frown.

Marcos looked away as the two quipped back and forth, instead focusing on his sister. “What makes you think that?” he asked.

“Well, I saw him kiss you here,” she explained, pointing at the crown of her head. “before class on Monday, but I figured you had done a good job on a quiz and he was telling you good job. Like when I do good on a test!”

Marcos opened his mouth to say something, anything, but she carried on. “And then Tuesday I came to see you after class, and I saw you two holding hands while you were studying. I thought maybe your hands were could though. 

Wednesday night I had a nightmare, but he was already in the bed with you, but I figured he had had a nightmare too, so I just went and got in the bed with Evelyn.

Then Thursday I saw you two laying together in your bed, but Evelyn said she thought it was private so we left. But then I saw you two yesterday and everything made sense!”

Vicky and Carol shared a stunned look with each other before looking between the two boys with curiosity.

“What-“ Iván began.

“I saw you too hugging, silly.” Paula giggled.

“Friends can hug, Paula. You hug Evelyn all the time don’t you?” Marcos wheezed like all of the air had been sucked out of him. He could see the color draining from Iván’s face as his sister spoke, and coupled with the pit in his own stomach…

“Duh! But it was different, you were hugging him like he was special. Like daddy used to hug mommy,”

Silence fell over the table as they all let that sink in. Iván caught Marcos’ eye, his face plastered with an unreadable expression. Marcos set his jaw, looking down at Paula, a small, kind smile gracing his lips.

He took a deep breath, exhaling before stating, “That’s because he is special, Paula. He’s, he’s very special to me.”

Carol gasped audibly, hitting Vicky’s shoulder rapidly, yet never taking her eyes off of the scene. Vicky was smirking, arms over her chest. Roque grinned, shaking his head and chuckling under his breath at his friends antics.

Iván gave a rare, genuine smile. It lit up his face and pulled at his dimple.

Paula nodded, her suspicions confirmed. She turned on her heel, walking pointedly towards Iván, purpose written all over her tiny face.

He turned to the side, so he could look her in the eye.

“Is Marcos special to you?” She asked. “Because sometimes one person is special to another, but they aren’t special back.”

Iván reached for her hands, grasping them gently in his own. “Paula, your brother, is one of the most important people in my life.

“Top five?” She asked.

“Top three.” He amended.

She beamed brightly, seemingly satisfied with the news. “Good. I made this for you just in case.” She explained, pulling her hands out of his grip to rifle through her pockets.

She extracted a tightly woven friendship bracelet and held it out to him in the palm of her hand. “I didn’t know what your favorite color was, so I just made one that matched Marcos’.”

“Thank you, I love it.” He replied seriously.

“You’re welcome,” she said, before turning on her heel and skipping off towards Evelyn.

As soon as the girl was out of earshot, Carol was on them. “How could you two not tell us?!” She crowed indignantly, yet still grinning.

“Because you’re terrible at keeping secrets?” Iván snarked. “Especially from Vicky,” he added, nodding at the brunette. “And then Roque would walk in while you two were gossiping about it, and by the end of the day, the whole school would know.”

“I can’t believe you don’t trust us,” Carol sniffed mock haughtily.

“Well now you know,” Iván grimaced jokingly, laying his arm across the table.

Marcos smiled, looking at each of his friends, but tracing his boyfriend’s palm with his pointer finger. “How long do you think it’ll take to make it around the school? An hour? Two?” He laughed.

“I’d say five seconds, give or take,” Iván shrugged.

“Oh come on, even I don’t wo-“ Carol started, only to stop herself with a sharp intake of air.

Iván had leaned across the table, grabbed a fistful of Marcos’ sweater, and pulled the unsuspecting boy forward. Releasing the sweater, he brought his hand up to gently cup his boyfriend’s face, kissing him achingly slow.

There wasn’t any shortage of wolf whistles, or cheers, or agreements on time for money to be exchanged. Even a few staff members (Jacinta and Héctor) were seen pulling their wallets out.

The two boys parted moments later, Marcos’ face flushed from his jawline to his ears. Iván with a satisfied smirk on his lips.

“There, now everyone knows,” he winked, picking his cup back up with his left hand; with his right, he drew the words “my love” across the back of Marcos’ hand.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me over on Tumblr crying about these dorks under the same user as here (thegoodthebadandthenerdy)


End file.
